Energy from Waste: A State of the Art Review

Extracting additional energy from wastewater treatment is a key element of Ofwat’s strategy for delivering benefits to customers in terms of both efficiency and innovation.

Through a WRc Portfolio programme with the water industry, WRc assessed 53 technologies with potential application for residual energy recovery from wastewater and sewage sludge.

Each application was scored against technical and financial criteria including:

ease of integration and impact on wastewater treatment works

readiness for implementation (i.e. is the technology in pilot phase, or ready to market);

output and payback.

The research provides the necessary intelligence for project participants to identify where business investment in innovative technology can offer a step change in energy generation and bring in appropriate returns.